Building the worlds biggest ship

In a dock yard the size of a large airfield, an army of engineers is building a ship like no other. it's longer than 4 football pitches and capable of carrying more than 18,000 containers. It's the world's largest ocean going cargo vessel – the Triple-E.

Huge hull: The ship's skeleton

The Triple-E’s unique U-shaped hull will be made from 60,000 tons of steel, erected by specially designed cranes. It must be large enough to swallow 18,000 containers, more than any ship before it, and sturdy enough to survive a pummelling by 25-metre high storm surges and cope in case of a collision with another ship. We follow engineers during tests as they attempt to overcome these and other challenges designing and building the ships’ supersize skeleton.

Enormous engine: The ship's heart

The engine room of the Triple-E is the key to creating the world’s biggest and most fuel-efficient ship. Today, shipping is the most environmentally friendly form of transport – but the carbon footprint of this ship needs to be even smaller. Designing a leaner and cleaner engine for the Triple-E will be a huge challenge.

Colossal cargo: The ship's shoulders

The Triple-E needs a deck bigger and stronger than any ship before it to hold its precious cargo. Globally, cargo ships currently lose 2,500 containers a year. Even though Maersk’s losses represent a tiny proportion of that figure, it knows even one lost container is one too many. Large waves can cause a ship to pitch or roll dangerously damaging cargo and injuring crew. Can engineers construct a deck that can ‘cling onto’ and protect all crew and cargo in the roughest of oceans?

Command & Control: The ship’s brain

Building the ships’ command and control tower is a surprisingly complex challenge. Unlike traditional container ships (where the bridge is in the rear of the vessel), the bridge on the Triple-E will be nearer the front of the ship. This will allow containers to be stacked higher behind it and still give the captain a clear view ahead. Engineers must also position the funnels towards the back of the ship - a safer distance from the bridge and accommodation tower. We follow engineers test this design, by running smoke tests in one of the world’s largest wind tunnels. How will it affect the behaviour of exhaust from the funnels and, in particular, reduce the chance of smoke entering the engine rooms, or even the bridge and crews quarters?

Dodging Disaster: The ships’ immune system

Keeping the cargo and crew safe in the event of a collision or fire is a huge challenge. More people have died during lifeboat drills than have been saved by lifeboats in real emergencies. We will follow engineers building, installing and testing the lifeboats, they hope are up to the challenge of being safely lowered the full height of the hull even in a storm. Engineers must also find a better way to fight a fire on the scale of the Triple-E than simply positioning lots of extinguishers all over the vessel. Will the evacuation and emergency response technologies work when tested under the pressure of a drill at sea?

Setting sail: Birth of the mega fleet

As the first ship launches, we follow it begin its final and greatest test: sea-trials. During these seven adrenaline-pumping, action-packed days anything can, and often will, go wrong. Can the shipbuilding crew beat the clock as they race to fix the any problems in time for the ships maiden voyage? Simultaneously we follow engineers in large ports around the world as they race to upgrade quays and docks to accommodate the new supergiant vessels. The first port of call will also be the first time that the crew are faced with the challenge of loading this number of containers onto this – or any – ship in history.

A.P. Moller - Maersk

A.P. Moller - Maersk is an integrated transport and logistics company with multiple brands and is a global leader in container shipping and ports. Including a stand-alone Energy division, the company employs roughly 88,000 employees across operations in 130 countries.